


A Dragon Does Not Concern Herself With the Opinion of Wolves

by Jonerys Targaryen (VampAngel79), VampAngel79



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: A LONG NIGHT INDEED, A SMARTER DANY, A SMARTER JON, A lot - Freeform, ALL 3 DRAGONS ARE ALIVE, AND INQUIRING MINDS WILL FIND OUT, ARYA ALWAYS LOVED JON BEST, ARYA HAS A BRAIN OF HER OWN, ARYA IS A SWEET SOCIOPATHIC MURDER CHILD, ARYA LURKS, ARYA WON'T BE SANSA PET EXECUTIONER AND YES MAN, Anti-Starks, BAMF Lyanna Mormont, BE DRAGONS, BEING RAPED DOESN'T DEFINE A WOMAN OR A MAN FOR THAT MATTER, BEING RAPED DOESN'T MEAN WOMEN WILL BOND OVER IT, BOATBABY MIGHT BE INCLUDED OR NOT, BRAN IS HIS OWN WARNING, BRIENNE IS THE FIERCEST WARRIOR IN THE 7 KINGDOMS FOR CHRISTSAKE, BRIENNE WON'T CRY AND BEG JAIME NOT TO LEAVE HER IN A HOUSECOAT, Bamf dany, Be A Dragon, Because I can, Because it's fanfic, DAENERYS WILL HAVE A VOICE, DAENERYS WILL STAND UP FOR HERSELF, DANY HAS FAITH IN HERSELF, DANY IS DONE LISTENING TO BAD ADVICE, DANY WILL MIKE DROP THE NORTH/STARKS, DANY WON'T TAKE CRAP FROM THE NORTH OR THE STARKS, Dany deserves better, Don't Like Don't Read, ENDGAME: TARGARYEN RESTORATION, ENOUGH WITH THE CLEVER PLANS, ESPECIALLY AFTER THE WHITE WALKERS ARE DONE WITH IT, EVENTUALLY BAMF JON SNOW, Evil laugh, F/M, FIRE AND BLOOD WHEN NEEDED, FUCK HER MALE WESTEROSI ADVISORS, FUCK SANSA AND THE HORSE SHE RODE IN ON, GHOSTS NEEDS A HUG AND LOT OF LOVE!!!, Ghost is the best boi, HE USED TO BE CLEVER BUT THE ALCOHOL HAS KILLED HIS BRAIN CELLS, HE'LL GET THERE SOONISH, I DON'T WRITE RAPE SCENES, I HAVE A PLAN FOR BRAN/3ER SINCE HIM BEING UTTER USELESS IN S8 GRATED ON MY NERVES, I HAVE A PLAN FOR EVERYONE, I MADE SOME CHANGES TO SOME STUPID PLOTS OF S7, I REGRET NOTHING, I THINK I'LL HAVE WILLAS TYRELL ALIVE, I do LOVE .gifs, I'll go down with this ship, IF SHE WASN'T SHE WOULD NOT MAKE HER HATRED FOR DANY CLEAR, JAIME LATER IN THE STORY, Jon Snow WILL STAND UP FOR HIMSELF TO IN DUE TIME, Jon Snow is a Targaryen, Jonerys, LYANNA MORMONT IS AWESOME, MAYBE ANOTHER BABY, MAYBE IF PEOPLE ASK NICELY, NO JAIME FOR THE MOMENT, NO MEETING AT THE DRAGONPIT WITH CERSEI, NOT BOAT ONE, NOT COMPLETELY S7 COMPLIANT, NOT JUST SOME LONGISH HOURS, NOT SURE I'LL DO GENDRYA, NOT for Sansa fans, No Dany Bashing, No Jon Bashing, No rape at all, North bashing, OR IS HE A TREASONOUS FUCK WHO HAVE BEEN PLAYING HIS OWN GAME?, OR WILL SHE PINE FOR THE ONE HAND MAN THAT LOVES HIS ODIOUS SISTER?, Olenna Tyrell WASN'T STUPID SHE MIGHT HAVE HIDDEN HIM, Plotbunny, Princess Arianne Martell MIGHT ALSO BE ALIVE, Read to find out!, Romance, S8 COMPLIANT - THE NORTH IS RACIST AND XENOPHOBIC, S8 COMPLIANT ONLY WHEN IT COMES TO SANSA/STARKS HATE FOR DANY, SANSA BASHING THOUGH, SANSA HATE BUT TONE DOWN TO MAKE SENSE, SANSA IS A SCHEMING BITCH, SANSA IS FUCKING STUPID, SANSA IS SELFISH AND ALL SHE EVER WANTED WAS TO BE QUEEN FUCK EVERYONE ELSE, SO NO CHANCE OF DANY & SANSA BEING BUDDIES CUZ OF THEIR PAST, SOMEONE NEEDS TO PUT CERSEI DOWN LIKE OLD YELLER FOR A CHANGE ×, Sansa bashing, Sorry Not Sorry, Starks Bashing (with few exceptions), THE FREEFOLKS WILL PLAY A MAJOR ROLE, THE MAN WITH THE MOST STUPID PLANS, THE NIGHT KING DOESN'T HAVE A DRAGON, THE NORTH BEING INDEPENDENT IS STUPID, THE NORTHERNER LORDS ARE ASSHOLES WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS, THE WALL HAS YET TO COME DOWN AND IT WON'T BE A DRAGON WHO DOES IT, THE WORST HAND EVER, THERE WAS NO IDIOTIC WIGHT HUNT BEYOND THE WALL, TORMUND IS STILL SMITTEN WITH BRIENNE, The Night is Dark and Full of Terrors, VARYS ISN'T STUPID THAT IS CERTAINLY NOT NEWS, Varys doesn't judge people based on the presence of a cock, Varys sudden change of heart and treason made no fucking sense, Varys will be a competent Master of Whisperers and Loyal to Dany, WE ALL KNOW DANY AND SANSA WERE RAPED NO NEED TO BEAT A DEADHORSE, WE ALREADY HAVE A ENOUGH USELESS CHARACTER IN TYRION, WELL THIS REQUEST TO FIND A FIC HAS TURNED INTO A FIC OF MY OWN!, WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH TYRION? FIND OUT ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF "THE GAMES OF OUR LIVES"... ;), WILL BRAN BE USEFUL OR JUST BLURT OUT CREEP AND INAPPROPRIATE COMMENTS AT RANDOM?, WILL BRIENNE APPRECIATE A MAN WHO APPRECIATES HER FOR HER SHEER BADASSERY?, Why Would He?, Why would a man with no cock be so determined to have a Monarch with said member?, anti-north, dany is not a mad queen, he'll get there, inquiring minds want to know, just kidding, no beta we die like women, season 8 AU, season 8 fix-it, soonish, we'll see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:21:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27067819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampAngel79/pseuds/Jonerys%20Targaryen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampAngel79/pseuds/VampAngel79
Summary: Please read the tags!!!Daenerys will take control of the situation in Winterfell and play the game of thrones (until she can finally break the wheel). Dany and Jon will not stay silent when confronted with the disdain, racism, xenophobia and hatred The North, their Lords and some of the Starks will show her and her people. Jon's parentage reveal will go down very differently. Jon's secret will stop being a secret once several people know it. It will become knowledge and knowledge is power. They'll use that to their advantage. Dany is a smart, cunning, and capable Queen. She won't let Sansa Stark and her pawns use her love for Jon and his parentage to undermine her and Jon will be by her side. She will prove to them all how she has survived for so long, amassed so much power, and why she deserves to be Queen even without a cock. And it's not because of her beauty, but her intellect. They will learn to respect her, one way or another. She is a Dragon and if needed she will remind them all with Fire & Blood. Jon will also learn what being a Dragon means and will behave accordingly. They will all learn the meaning of the phrase: "Dragons answer to neither gods nor men."
Relationships: Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen
Comments: 229
Kudos: 117





	1. An Introduction: How This Story Came To Be

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mango22](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mango22/gifts).



> This story is dedicated to mango22, who showed me great kindness when I most needed it, even though we didn't know each other from Adam (or Eve). I think she'll appreciate a story that is in large part a love letter to our Queen Daenerys Stormborn, of House Targaryen. Long may she reign!

~~Hello! I'm looking for a fic I read some time ago!~~

~~I'm looking for a fanfic where Daenerys after finding out Jon is a Targaryen decides to take matters into her own hands and tells the North that Jon is a Targaryen. I can't remember much about it, but she tells them the truth, I think to get in front of the issue and get control back from Sansa and the Starks. Does anyone know which fanfic I'm talking about, please?~~

~~Thanks in advance!~~

~~**EDIT:** Well, since I have't been able to find the story mentioned above and neither have all the people who commented on this post, try as they might; it seems said story has been deleted, sadly. So, I have decided to write my own version. Since, I don't remember anything else about the story besides Dany taking control of the situation in Winterfell, after Jon in his naiveté decides to tell his cousins/siblings about his true parentage without ever bothering to listen to Dany's advice, fear and begging, thus putting her life in danger, as that dumpster fire of S8 proved. I'm going to write my own story where Dany realises how utterly naive and short-sighted Jon can be and his inability to see how said knowledge is extremely dangerous to her and the whole realm. No wonder Ned Stark took it to his grave, at least he realised how it could be weaponised. Dany will take matters in her own hands, take back control of the situation and play the game of thrones that Jon seems incapable of participating in (until she can finally break the wheel). She is done with the disdain, racism, xenophobia and hatred The North, their Lords and the Starks have shown her and her people. After all, a secret stops being a secret once several people know it. It becomes knowledge and knowledge is power. She'll use that to her advantage. She's a smart, cunning, and a capable Queen. She won't let Sansa Stark and her pawns use Jon's "secret" to undermine her. She will prove to them all why she has survived for so long, amassed so much power, and why she deserves to be Queen even without a cock. And it's not because of her beauty, but her cunning and intellect. They will learn to respect her, one way or another. She is a Dragon and if needed she will remind them all with Fire & Blood. Dany is done playing nice and daydreaming about the Starks accepting her as family because of her love for Jon Snow. That was an orphan's child's dream and it's about time she squashes it firmly. They will, at the very least, show her the respect due to their rightful and deserving Monarch. And if Jon cannot see that, he's a fool and she's better off without him. Hasn't he shown her how spineless, cowardly, and what a liar he has become when faced with his family (which for some reason doesn't include her; his aunt), his so-called Lords, and in the place he grew up and calls home? If his love is so fickle, it was never love to begin with. She will give him one more chance, but it will be his last. Since arriving in Winterfell, or as Dany likes to call it: Winterhell, she has felt played, used for her power and resources, and then discarded as a whore that has served her purpose. No more. They will all learn the meaning of the phrase: "Dragons answer to neither gods nor men."~~

**THIS STORY HAS NOW CHANGED AND EVOLVED VERY DIFFERENTLY FROM WHAT I SAID ABOVE, WELL AT LEAST IN REGARDS TO JON. DANY WILL STILL BE A BOSS BITCH AND JON WILL BE A BOSS MAN TOO. UNITED JONERYS/DRAGONS FOR THE WIN!!! TARGARYEN RESTORATION HERE WE COME!!!**


	2. Prologue - Love Is The Death Of Duty?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon’s POV and state of mind before and after his fateful knock on Daenerys’s cabin door during their boat ride at the end of S7.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **SOME VERY IMPORTANT FACTS TO KNOW BEFORE READING THIS STORY (A MUST READ):**
> 
> Although this story is a rewrite of S8, **it's NOT totally compliant with the events of S7**. I don't feel like rewriting S7, since I liked a bunch of stuff that happened in it. Plus, rewriting S8 is already a major undertaking. So, here are the S7 events that I chose to ignore and that for the purpose of this story HAVE NOT HAPPENED AT ALL.
> 
> 1) All 3 Dragons are alive and well, since that idiotic wight hunt beyond the wall DID NOT HAPPEN. Tyrion did suggest it, but everyone with a brain rejected that idea (meaning everyone besides Tyrion);
> 
> 2) Since the wight hunt did not happen, THE NK DOES NOT HAVE A DRAGON. My NK is not an olympic javelin professional thrower (and never will be in this story), not to mention he never had a chance to see a Dragon, much less have a shot at one. Also, I feel the need to add that there's no Home Depot beyond The Wall, so he does not have access to gigantic metal chains. He might be powerful, but his magic is NOT that advanced (He's NOT Voldemort);
> 
> 3) Due to his lack of an undead Dragon, the NK has yet to bring The Wall down. THE WALL IS STILL STANDING FOR NOW;
> 
> 4) Again, since there was no idiotic and suicidal wight hunt, THERE WAS NO DRAGONPIT SUMMIT MEETING BETWEEN DANY/JON, THEIR ALLIES, AND CERSEI. Let's be real, Cersei would never have agreed to such a meeting, Jaime doesn't have that much power over her, and she loathes Tyrion. Also, anyone with a brain (again everyone besides Tyrion - who seemed to have drank his IQ away in the show) would know what a freaking waste of time that would be. Cersei has proven over and over that she cannot be trusted, or reasoned with (Reference to the blowing of The Sept for proof);
> 
> 5) Cersei is NOT pregnant. Duh. It's her last ditch attempt to keep Jaime by her side. Plus, I don't relish the idea of killing a pregnant woman, or leave a new born child without a mother. I think Jon and Dany, both who have grown up motherless, would agree with me on that;
> 
> 6) Jaime is still in King's Landing with Cersei for now. Since the Dragonpit meeting did not happen, he still does't know about the Army of the Dead and he believes Cersei is indeed pregnant with his child (which is a lie);
> 
> 7) The Loot Train attack did happen and it was glorious, HOWEVER DANY DID NOT BURN ANY OF THE FOOD TAKEN FROM THE REACH! She's not an idiot. The people need to be fed and she knows it. She did burn the shit out of the Lannister's and Tarly's armies defending it. And she did indeed burn Lord Tarly Senior and Junior, however she did offer them the choice to join the Night's Watch after they refused to bend the knee. They declined, so she did burn them. They betrayed their liege lord, the Tyrells, caused their deaths, and sacked Highgarden. They are traitors who sided with Cersei and got what they deserved. They simply paid the price for their choices. Good riddance, I say;
> 
> 8) The cave scene in Dragonstone between Jon and Dany with the carvings made by The Children of the Forest goes down a bit differently towards the end, but I'll let Jon explain it fully in his own words in the chapter below. 
> 
> That's all the changes to S7 I have decided to make. I just thought the plot points I'm ignoring were stupid beyond belief and I refuse to use them as starting points for a new S8. These changes will be discussed in this story when applicable, so you'll hear more about them and some explanations about the different decisions during the course of this tale. I appreciate your patience in regards to that.
> 
> _ **Happy reading!** _

_The sun would be making its debut across the sky soon, sooner than either of the two people lying quietly and intertwined in the bed of the boat's cabin wished, while enjoying the afterglow of a night well spent making passionate love._

_And love making it was, it wasn’t just sex or merely fucking. It was the culmination of a growing mutual attraction, reciprocal respect and an undeniable strong connection between both. The boat's motion lulled them even further into a sense of contentment, maybe of finally belonging…_

*************************************

** JON: **

Jon never thought he would have had the courage to knock on Daenerys Targaryen door in the middle of the night. She was The Queen, his Queen. He had finally bent the knee to her. He did it for a multitude of reasons, but only in the end when he had realised she finally believed him, and it had been all he could do after she had quoted his own words back at him. Not that she knew he had once used that same exact phrase in a desperate attempt to prevent the death of a man he had admired. She had used the identical admonishment he had uttered to Mance, the question he had posed years ago that still remained branded in his mind: _"Isn't their survival more important than your pride?”_

He still believed he had been right when he had confronted the King Beyond the Wall, and he would always regret that Mance had not listened to him, resulting in his needless death. He could still picture the man burning at the stake, saved from his suffering only by his well placed merciful arrow. How could he deny the truth of her question when he held the same belief. It would have been hypocritical of him to react as Mance had, not only because in this instance it meant not only his own survival, but also the survival of his people, of his family, and his homeland. He didn’t have the luxury to rebut that statement, as Mance had. His duty to the people who had chosen him to lead them would not allow him to behave so callously. After all, she had finally agreed to come North with him and had offered all her considerable resources to fight alongside him against the Night King. She had been willing to give up on her life long quest for the Iron Throne, at least until the White Walker threat had been dealt with. He would not shame himself by refusing to sacrifice the same thing she had been ready to give up, albeit momentarily, although there was no guarantee she would survive to finally sit on the throne she longed for. In the end, both of them had been willing to give up their thrones for the survival of their people. 

She had left the rest of her six Kingdoms to Cersei’s mercy, something he knew had cost her a great deal. It was a blow not only to her pride, but also to her desire to sit on the Iron Throne as soon as possible. But more importantly, as Ser Davos liked to point out, because she had a good heart. She knew the smallfolk would pay the price for Cersei’s greed and opportunism. The false queen would take advantage of Daenerys’ forces relocation to The North and would fortify her position in the rest of the kingdoms and bolster her own armies while they would be occupied fighting death itself. That realisation had hurt Daenerys more than postponing her goal of sitting on the throne. 

Jon had talked extensively to her people while they were on Dragonstone, or better yet he taken the opportunity to interrogated them. Now he understood her character. She was a liberator, a champion of the downtrodden. He knew she was making a great sacrifice to go along with his plans. Daenerys had put her wish to fight for every person that was currently being crushed by what she called the wheel, so that she could fight for The North, for his people, and his home. Though, that was not strictly accurate. She was a brilliant woman and ruler, so she realised that the Night King was the biggest threat humanity was currently facing. She had understood that the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few. 

Daenerys Targaryen was an incredible woman. She was special, unique, noble, rare, wise, and magical (in more ways than one). She was the Mother of Dragons. She had brought them back into the world centuries after they were considered extinct, as everyone had erroneously thought. She had done it alone, by sheer force of will and her faith in herself. She had birthed them, for all intents and purposes, even if they had not come from her womb. She loved them as a true mother should, as much as he wished his unknown mother had loved him. In his more melancholic moods, Jon envied her Dragons for that; a mother’s unconditional love, as irrational as that thought might be. He felt how much she loved her sons, it was a palpable force whenever she talked about them and when she was in their company. They were not beasts to her, nor only useful weapons. She was truly their mother and loved them as such. And still she was willing to risk them to fight an ancient and perhaps unstoppable evil, to save mankind, to save Westeros, and probably the rest of the known world. She was a true hero and he was in awe of her strength, her selflessness, and her commitment to their cause. 

Anybody else would have ran far away. She was still Queen of Meereen and the Bay of Dragons, the former Slaver’s bay, was still hers. She could have retreated there with her people and waited to see how Westeros would fare. She would have had more time to prepare suitable defences and to come up with better strategies. However, Daenerys Targaryen was no ordinary woman, or ruler, she considered every person in Westeros hers. Not only because she believed herself their Queen, but because she had always used her power to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves. It didn’t matter where they were born, raised, the colour of their skin, or their culture; none of it made any difference to her. If she could save and protect them, she would, no questions asked. 

Jon also knew she could be ruthless to her enemies, however she was the complete opposite of Cersei. She didn’t go searching for enemies, true, potential, or otherwise imagined. She didn’t delude herself that every shadow was a threat, or that every whisper about her was a personal attack that needed to be extinguished with extreme prejudice. The enemies she did have were the ones that threatened the innocents and the helpless she had sworn to protect. They went against her because she stood as a shield to those they would oppress and explore for their own selfish gains. Those were her true enemies and to them she would show no mercy, only fire and blood. Jon wasn’t blind, Daenerys Targaryen wasn’t pure like the Maiden the Southerner’s faith idolised. She was not perfect, no one was. She was human, and as such, fallible like the rest of them. However, after everything Jon had seen, experienced, and observed about humans and their nature, she should be set far above and beyond most of them. 

She had sounded arrogant and entitled when they first met at Dragonstone, but he soon came to realise it was a queenly mask she used because it was necessary for her protection, and she hadn’t known or trusted him yet. She was a woman, in a world where women were mostly viewed as broodmares and pawns to be married off to advance their family’s ambitions, without any concern for their needs or wants. She was also considered a foreigner, he had heard all the slurs about her on that topic. What people always seemed to forget was that she had been born in Westeros and was smuggled out as a tiny orphan baby with her brother, fleeing from assassins. So that Robert and the Lannisters wouldn’t do to her and her sibling what they had done to the rest of her family, to spare them the same atrocities committed against her niece, nephew, and their Dornish mother. 

He would never understand why people blamed children for the sins of their parents. It was completely illogical to him. He was born a bastard, but that hadn’t been his choice and all his life he had suffered for it and carried that unfair burden, even though he had had no say in the circumstances of his birth. 

She had never made him feel like a bastard or treated him as one, not even on their first almost disastrous meeting. She was kind, generous, just, brave and the most beautiful woman in the world, not that the latter should make any difference to him. But it did, because he couldn’t deny he wanted her, and each day that passed had only made him more smitten with her, not only because of her outer beauty, but her inner one. She was beautiful inside and out. 

Again he had to remind himself, if only to try to cool his fervour towards her, that her entitled behaviour had grated on his nerves when they first met. He had thought her arrogant and prideful. However, that was a fallacy that he needed to let go. He had to stop trying to deceive himself, he was too honest for that. He had come to see her attitude for what it was: a defensive mask. She had shrouded herself with a regal "armour", out of necessity to protect herself and also to warn others that she was not one to be trifled with. It reminded Jon of the best advice he had ever received, courtesy of none other than Tyrion Lannister. He had imparted it to him when he was still a mere green boy, but it had left a monumental impression on him and he remembered those wise words by heart: _"Let me give you some advice, bastard. Never forget what you are, the rest of the world will not. Wear it like armour and it can never be used to hurt you”_. From what Daenerys had revealed about her past to him in their first meeting, she had not had an easy life, not by a long shot. But she had risen above her difficult circumstances and she had learned the same lesson Tyrion had taught him, though she had acquired that knowledge through her own life experiences and without any outside advice. 

The defining moment that had completely changed his opinion of her and his previous stance about bending the knee, happened when they were in that cave, surrounded by an abundance of precious Dragonglass and the drawings made by the children of the forest. All of her doubts about the veracity of his claim had evaporated the moment he had shown her those images carved on the wall so very long ago. He would be forever grateful to the Old Gods for granting him that unexpected boon. The undeniable proof that he wasn’t a liar and that the enemy was indeed real, had always been real, and that they would need to face it and fight together to defeat it. 

She had immediately grasped their meaning and importance, and had not shied away from that horrible realisation. She had been wise and intelligent about it. Daenerys had not tried to deny reality, had not tried to fool herself, or chosen ignorance as a hollow comfort. She had promptly promised to join his battle, and pledged all her considerable armies, all her resources, and her Dragons to fight the Night King with him. Together. That’s what they had said: Together. And she had asked, in his opinion, little in return. He had agreed, of course, and finally bent the knee. He had to confess he had done it gladly, and had been extremely relieved. The truth was he had never wanted to be King. He had never expected or dreamed it would ever happen to him. It had been the greatest honour of his life, to be chosen by his people as their King. However, he had only accepted that mantle because it meant he would have the authority necessary to pursue and enforce the necessary measures to prepare them all for the incoming, unstoppable, and deadly threat. Until that moment, Jon had been alone in carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, but after her commitment to help, he had finally found someone to share that horrible burden with. Daenerys had, with a few words and a promise, accepted a large part of the strain and responsibility that knowing such truth demanded. If he was a better man; if there was any other choice; if the fate of the world hadn’t dictated that he desperately needed her aid; he would have spared her that dreadful responsibility. It was an awful feeling to crush and changed her view of the world so deeply and so strongly. To suddenly saddle her with the role of saviour, to have her understand that she was their only hope. It was’t fair, nor kind, but it was unfortunately necessary. She was their last hope and thankfully she had risen to that challenge. 

In that moment, Jon realised how selfishly he had been behaving before, demanding her help while refusing to bend the knee over and over again and never offering anything in return for her aid, while she had been generous to a fault. She had given him all the Dragonglass they could possibly need or want and had her own men help him and his do the mining of it, even before she believed that the Army of the Dead was real. That’s not how alliances were supposed to work. And wasn’t his need for an alliance, or more accurately her one-sided assistance, that had driven him to leave the North and risk coming to her? Alliances were supposed to be a give and take, an exchange, and he had not offered her anything. He had come into her island, her ancestral home, and had demanded her help, the use of her armies, her resources, and her sons. It was deeply ironic that he had thought her entitled, when he had been the one behaving as such. She owed him nothing and yet she had been willing to listen to him, even after declaring that he was in open rebellion against her. She had removed his weapons and had held him captive, although she had denied the latter was true. However, he and his people had been extremely well cared for and shown respect. They weren’t allowed to leave, but their treatment had been as though they were honoured guests. At first, he had been exceedingly annoyed and outraged. But now that he knew her better and had more time to ponder and not merely react, he couldn’t deny he would have behaved similarly if he was in her position. He doubted any other monarch would have been as fair and kind as she had, especially after he had presented himself to her at their first meeting wrapped fiercely in defiance, self-righteousness, and condescension. He had not even asked, he had demanded. She hadn’t reacted much better, but looking back, he couldn’t really blame her. 

Granted his cause was to save the world from the most dangerous threat to all of mankind. A threat that would affect her and her people too. The whole world actually. But she hadn’t believed him at first, none of her advisor's had, which was understandable. He knew the truth about the Night King seemed crazy to anyone who hadn’t seen and experienced what he had, or trusted his word completely. Of course, she hadn’t taken only his word about the issue at first. She didn’t know him at all at the time. What had he expected? 

He hadn’t brought anything to offer her. He had no riches. The North had been devastated after the wars. He might have been the King in the North, but he knew his position was tenuous at best. He was a bastard and now three legitimate Stark children were still alive, and for that he was immensely grateful to the Old Gods. He couldn’t pledge the Northmen’s forces to join her in her fight for the Iron Throne. He knew the stubborn Northerner Lords wouldn't have agreed to it, even with their lives on the line, which was certainly the case. They would unnamed him King in the North in a heartbeat if he had capitulated so easily before a Southerner Queen. They were prideful and fickle. The North remembered only when it was convenient. Most of the Lords loved to loudly declare their fealty to the Starks, but he would never forget their refusal to help him and Sansa in retaking Winterfell from the vile Boltons, and how they had only flocked to them and declared their undying loyalty only once they had been victorious. 

Jon was worried. When Sansa and the Lords got his raven telling them he had bent the knee to a Targaryen Queen, they would be outraged. However, what was he supposed to have done? Keep his crown, something he never really wanted, and loose their only hope in defeating the Night King, thus coming home empty handed? Or should he have tried harder to convince and use Daenerys and her forces to save his homeland without giving her anything in return? He couldn’t do that. That wouldn’t be fair to her. It was not just. She could have chosen to simply stay at Dragonstone safe in her island. She could have chosen to retreat back to Meereen. She could have decided to make her stand against the Army of the Dead in any other place of her own choosing, but instead she was coming to Winterfell with him to defend his home, his people, the Stark legacy, and the North. The only thing he had to offer her was his crown, so he did it the moment he realised what kind of woman she was and what an amazing Queen she would be to all Seven of the Kingdoms. 

So, he had bent the knee, to her absolute surprise. She had been moved by his gesture, not expecting it after all his previous strong resistance. She had shown him some of her vulnerability, after they had come to their understanding in the cave. She had confessed her insecurity about how his people would receive her, after he had bent the knee. He had been utterly surprised by her uncharacteristic self-doubt, something he was sure was an honour few were ever privileged to see. When he told her that his people would come to see her for who she was, her first concern was hope that she would prove herself to be worthy of his faith in her. If that didn’t show her true character, nothing else would. 

He had squeezed her hand in silent support and they had held hands for a brief moment before she composed herself and left the cave a little flustered. Jon had been affected too. He knew they were skating on thin ice and dancing around the connection that was developing between them. He also knew it could be dangerous to both of them if they fully embraced what was happening. If they acknowledged the magnetic pull that seemed to envelop them when they were in each other’s presence. 

He was a lowly bastard and she was the most powerful and most beautiful woman in the world, the only surviving heir to a Great Dynasty, while he didn’t even know his own mother’s name. He was not worthy of her. As a bastard he knew that wanting her was wrong, he was just proving Catelyn Stark’s fears were coming true. He was a bastard who had usurped her own children’s right as King in the North, though he had never expected to be chosen as such or even wanted it. Now, he was a bastard that was reaching even more above his own station, falling for a Queen, the Queen, his Queen, and worst of all, he knew he would act on his own desires. He wouldn’t be able to keep away from her, not unless she ordered him to. She could accept him or not, that was her choice to make and he would respect her decision. If she wanted him even a fraction of how much he wanted her, who was he to tell her, the Queen, that she couldn’t take a bastard as a lover? 

That thought was painful. Maybe if he had kept his crown he could have offered a marriage alliance from the start if he had been smarter or more cunning. He was a Snow, but had been the King in the North nonetheless. Now he was just Jon Snow, the bastard of Winterfell, and only by her grace Warden of the North. 

He knew that even if they became lovers nothing could ever come out of that. She would take her throne after they defeated the Dead and would probably marry a powerful Lord of a Great House to secure her reign. If only that Lord could be him, but Westeros would never accept a bastard as consort to their Queen. He was no Lord, no Ser, no Knight. He was just a Northerner bastard. He was daydreaming, really. He didn’t even know if she wanted him too. Her actions could be interpreted that way, but they could also only mean she was kind and had taken a liking to him as a person. However, he was determined to find out. 

He couldn’t suppress his growing feelings for her anymore, so for the first time in his life he decided to be selfish and fight to get what HE wanted, not what others had wanted or demanded of him. Not because of duty, but because it was his heart’s desire. 

_"Love is the death of duty.”_

He remembered very clearly Master Aemon telling him that and the conversation that followed. All his life he had placed duty and honour above all else, like those concepts were gods and he fully worshipped at their altars. Was love really the death of duty? 

He could agree it could be in the case of the men of the Night’s Watch and in other instances when love could present a conflict of interests and result in divided loyalties. But, what about duty to your family? Wasn’t that duty born out of love and loyalty? His Lord Father placed great importance on duty, but he also had a family that he loved beyond all else. Hadn’t the great and honourable Ned Stark falsely confessed to treason before being beheaded because he wanted to protect his daughters? Jon didn’t fault him for that. In the very end when his life was on the line, Ned Stark had chosen love over duty and honour, hadn’t he? And not to save his own skin, but to protect his family. Plus, wasn’t his own existence proof that his Lord Father had been dishonourable, at least once in his life? 

So, were duty and honour the two most important things in the world or not? They had been in his world. He had lost Ygritte because of it. The first woman he had loved, or thought he loved. He wasn’t so sure anymore that what he felt for her was really true love. 

What had duty and honour ever brought him? Pain, stress, so many hardships, even death, among many other not so pleasant things. What about love? He had been happy with Ygritte, before he chose his duty over her. Also, the love of his family for him and his for them, especially when they were all still alive and together, had brought him happiness. His love for Arya and hers for him was a beacon of light through his whole life, especially during his worst moments. It was always there pushing against the darkness and sadness when he thought of his favourite sibling and their unique bond. 

Jon was beginning to question a lot of his pre-conceived notions and the rigid standards he had chosen for himself to try to make his Lord Father proud of him, to lessen the shame of his bastardy, and to be a man admired like Lord Stark. Maybe if he had been a less rigid person, he could have managed somehow to avoid the Battle of Castle Black, where so many of the Freefolk and his brothers alike had perished needlessly, including Ygritte. 

She had died in his arms after being shot in the back while hesitating to kill him, by a boy he had taken under his wing, and who later betrayed him and drove a dagger into his heart to finish him off. Why had she hesitated? Because she still loved him even though he had betrayed her to go back to his duty. That was love. She had truly loved him and he was ashamed now that he hadn’t been able to completely reciprocate it. He had done wrong by her and he had no wish to make the same mistake ever again. 

Love was the most important force in this world, was it not? And wasn’t duty a way to protect love? Be it duty to the people you loved or to a cause. Maybe love wasn’t the death of duty, not the right kind of love anyway. Love was a fuel for duty, wasn’t it? Why had he gone back and ended up taken command to defend The Wall against the Wildlings? Just because it was his duty, or because he loved his brothers? Was it duty that made him fight in The Battle of the Bastards, or was it his love for Sansa and Rickon? Or was it both? 

Love, duty, honour, loyalty and wisdom should always work together and have the same weight. Each one strengthening and feeding off of each other, so that he would never again feel the need to choose between only one of those important values. 

It had taken all of his courage to knock on her door that evening, but she had answered it, and after her initial surprise, she had let him know wordlessly that they wanted the same thing, at least for that night. It ended up being the best night of his life. It was a life changing experience for him. He had been overwhelmed by the intensity of his feelings for her, and amazed that his gamble had paid off. They had made passionate love more times than he cared to count, and from time to time he had to stop and look deeply into her eyes, trying to see her soul, trying to show her; his. And she had reacted with the same tenderness and openness, her eyes full of affection, or dare he hope perhaps even love? 

He knew now, after their incredible night together that he loved her, truly loved her. Would he let duty destroy his love for her or come between them? If he had to choose between his duty and Dany what would he do? What would be his choice? Would he betray her like he did with Ygritte or would he choose her? Choose love? Something that brought him so much happiness now, after the shit life he had led so far, especially after being murdered by his own men and being resurrected. His body had been alive, but his heart had stayed mostly dead until Dany had lit a fire in him. Now his heart was awake and it beat for her. 

He didn’t even remember the last time he had found such joy. Maybe before he left for The Wall and his father and sisters to King’s Landing, when his family was happy and whole and alive. Maybe in that cave with Ygritte where he had managed to forget the outside world and his duty for a brief moment. 

Certainly never after he was resurrected. Something that still made no sense to him. He knew the how: magic, but not the why. Why was he brought back? Was it just to fight against the Night King? Was that his sole purpose and duty? If so, what was left? Why always fucking duty? All his life so far had revolved around duty, his needs and wants never taken into consideration, not even by him. He didn’t even have a say in his own resurrection, though logically since he was dead nobody had asked him, nor did anybody considered that he might have preferred to stay that way and finally be free. Of duty, of honour, of guilt, of shame. Free from it all. 

But now everything had changed. She had changed everything for him. He had never felt more alive than when they were together. Maybe the why of his resurrection didn’t really matter. Maybe she was the why. He was just glad he was alive now and had a chance to change his future, to enjoy being in love and his time with Dany for as long as he could. For as long as she would have him. He had fallen in love with her, but he didn’t know how she felt about him yet. 

Once the sun rose in the sky and morning came he would know where they stood, he thought. He would not disturb her for the world right now, not when they were wrapped around each other so tightly, and so comfortably, that it was difficult to determine they were indeed two separate individuals. But, they would need to talk about it soon enough. He needed to discuss with her what their relationship would be moving forward. Was it a one time thing? The consummation of their attraction, or was he suppose to warm her bed until they got to Winterfell? Or was it more? 

He didn’t know, and that scared him, especially because what he wanted wasn’t possible, but he would take anything she would be willing to give him. She made him happy and he wouldn’t be a Northerner fool anymore and turn his back to his own happiness. He was done being foolish, and was now rearranging his own priorities. He now knew he was forever hers and hopefully she would be forever his. He finally had another reason to live besides just defeating the Army of the Dead: His Dany… 

***********************************************

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to apologise to the readers that have already read a somewhat similar chapter from me before. I'm sure some readers have recognised some of the text in this chapter. I have reworked/rewritten a lot of it to perfectly fit this new story. I had written and posted a similar beginning in June of this year intending for it to be the first chapter of a S8 fix-it fic that I wanted to write and that was completely compliant to all the events of S7. However, I got distracted by my other Modern Setting AU on-going fics and abandoned it. I realised at the time that it would be a major undertaking and that I didn't yet have an original plot to work with or any great ideas to produce a proper rewrite of S8. Not to mention all the other S8 fix-it fics that were already available and wonderful. But now, I have this plotbunny that won't leave me alone. I have thought long and hard and have finally plotted my version of S8 and have decided to share it here. So, I had to heavily edit my previously written first chapter of that abandoned fic for it to work for this new story, since **this one is not totally compliant with S7 (see my beginning notes above)**. I could have skipped this and not posted it, but I believe this look into Jon's state of mind at the start of this tale is very relevant for the story I'm going to be telling here. I appreciate your patience and understanding regarding this. The next chapter will be completely new and original and from Dany's POV. 
> 
> PS: If anyone wants to read the original version of this chapter/the one posted in the abandoned fic, since I feel deleting it would be disingenuous (and I have nothing to hide), here is the link:  
> ["Dragons Answer To Neither Gods Nor Men"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22761532/chapters/54388939)
> 
> I feel the need to add, before anyone has a chance to complain, that although the link to the abandoned fic above has [ThatBishLizzie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatBishLizzie) as a co-writer, she did not write that first chapter, not even one word of it. Otherwise, of course I would have credited her here. We had planned, back then, to co-write that as an on-going story/retelling of S8, but we both got busy with our other works and ended up letting the idea go. Lizzie is a fantastic writer and I highly recommend reading all her amazing stories. Go read them now, if you haven't already! If she wants to help me with this new one, I would be honoured, but we haven't discussed it so far. So, you are stuck with only myself as the writer for now (and probably for the foreseeable future, or forever). ;)
> 
> Thanks for reading and I would really appreciate some feedback if you're willing to share!


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